Noticeboard

Out of HoursIf you require a doctor after 6pm, at weekends or on public holidays when the surgery is closed, please telephone the usual number (0845 – 337 – 6310). Your call will then be redirected to NHS 24

Test ResultsThe Practice has scheduled time (2pm – 4pm) each weekday for patients wishing to enquire about Test Results. Please select the appropriate option when telephoning the practice.

Cancelling your AppointmentIf you are unable to attend an appointment with one of the doctors or nurses, please telephone or use the link at the bottom of this page to cancel your appointment.

Confidentiality

Patient (Your) Responsibilities

We have a Practice Charter, which outlines what you should expect from us and what we expect from our patients. This is part of our registration pack and is available from Reception. Any unacceptable behaviour from a patient, directed towards any member of the Practice Team will not be tolerated, and may justify removal from our Practice List. We will also consider reporting any such incidents to the police.

Data Protection

Our staff have a legal duty to keep your personal health information strictly confidential and the Insch Medical Practice takes this responsibility very seriously. The Practice is registered under the Data Protection Act 2018 and we display a short version of our Privacy notice on our waiting room notice board. We also have a hard copy of our Privacy Notice (see below) in the waiting room - to pick up and read. This notice describes what information is held, why it is held and who has access to the information, and your general rights as a patient. If you have any questions on Data Protection or how we manage your medical record please ask to speak to the Practice Manager.

Privacy Notice

The Privacy Notice explains why the GP practice collects information about you and how that information may be used.

Health care professionals who provide you with care maintain records about your health and any treatment or care you have received previously (e.g. NHS Trust, GP Surgery, Walk-in Clinic, etc.) These records are used to help to provide you with the best possible healthcare.

NHS health care records may be electronic, on paper or a mixture of both, and we use a combination of working practices and technology to ensure that your information is kept confidential and secure. Records this GP Practice hold about you may include the following information;

Any contact the surgery has had with you, such as appointments, clinic visits. emergency appointments, etc

Notes and reports about your health

Details about your treatment and care

Results of investigations such as laboratory tests, x-rays, etc

Relevant information from other health professionals, relatives or those who care for you

To ensure you receive the best possible care, your records are used to facilitate the care you receive. Information held about you may be used to help protect the health of the public and to help us manage the NHS. Information may be used within the GP practice for clinical audit to monitor the quality of the service provided.

Some of this information will be held centrally and used for statistical purposes. Where we do this, we take strict measures to ensure that individual patients cannot be identified. Sometimes your information may be requested to be used for research purposes – the surgery will always gain your consent before releasing the information for this purpose.

Risk Stratification

Risk stratification data tools are increasingly being used in the NHS to help determine a person’s risk of suffering a particular condition, preventing an unplanned or (re) admission and identifying a need for preventive intervention. Information about you is collected from a number of sources including NHS Trusts and from this GP Practice. A risk score is then arrived at through an analysis of your anonymised information using software managed by our HSCP and is only provided back to your GP as data controller in an identifiable form. Risk stratification enables your GP to focus on preventing ill health and not just the treatment of sickness. If necessary your GP may be able to offer you additional services. Please note that you have the right to op out of your data being used in this way.

Med Management

The Practice may conduct Medicines Management Reviews of medications prescribed to its patients. This service performs a review of prescribed medications to ensure patients receive the most appropriate, up to date and cost effective treatments.

How do we maintain the confidentiality of your records?

We are committed to protecting your privacy and will only use information collected lawfully in accordance with:

Every member of staff who works for an NHS organisation has a legal obligation to keep information about you confidential.

We will only ever use or pass on information about you if others involved in your care have a genuine need for it. We will not disclose your information to any third party without your permission unless there are exceptional circumstances (i.e. life or death situations), where the law requires information to be passed on and / or in accordance with the new information sharing principle following Dame Fiona Caldicott’s information sharing review (information to share or not to share) where” The duty to share information can be as important as the duty to protect patient confidentiality”. This means that health and social care professionals should have the confidence to share information in the best interests of their patients within the framework set out be the Caldicott principles. They should be supported by the policies of their employers, regulators and professional bodies.

Who are our partner organisations?

We may also have to share your information, subject to strict agreements on how it will be used, with the following organisations;

NHS Trusts / Foundation Trusts

GP’s

NHS Commissioning Support Units

Independent Contractors such as dentists, opticians, pharmacists

Private Sector Providers

Voluntary Sector Providers

Ambulance Trusts

Clinical Commissioning Groups

Social Care Services

Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC)

Local Authorities

Education Services

Fire and Rescue Services

Police and Judicial Services

Voluntary Sector providers

Other ‘ data processors’ which you will be informed of

You will be informed who your data will be shared with and in some cases asked for explicit consent for this to happen when this is required.

Access to personal information

You have to right under the Data Protection Act 1998 to request access to view or to obtain copies of what information the surgery holds about you and have it amended should it be inaccurate. In order to request this, you need to do the following:

Your request, be that written or verbal, should be made to the GP Practice – for information from the hospital you should write direct to them

There may be a charge to have a printed copy of the information held about you

We are required to respond to you within one month

You will need to give adequate information (for example full name, address, date of birth, CHI number and details of your request) so that your identity can be verified and your records located

Objections / Complaints

Should you have concerns about how your information is managed at the GP, please contact the GP Practice Manager. If you are still unhappy following a review by the GP practice, you can then complain to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) via their website (www.ico.gov.uk).

If you are happy for your data to be extracted and used for the purposes described in this privacy notice then you do not need to do anything. If you have any concerns about how your data is shared then please contact the Practice.

Change of details

It is important that you tell the person treating you if any of your details such as your name or address have changed or if any of your details such as date of birth is incorrect in order for this to be amended. You have a responsibility to inform us of any changes so our records are accurate and up to date for you.

Notification

The Data Protection Act 1998 requires organisations to register a notification with the Information Commissioner to describe the purpose for which they process personal and sensitive information.

This information is publicly available on the information commissioner’s office website www.ico.org.uk

The practice is registered with the information commissioner’s office (ICO).

If you are still unhappy following a review by the Practice you can then complain to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). www.org.uk, casework@ico.org.uk, telephone: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745

Freedom of Information

The Freedom of Information Act 2002 recognises that members of the public have the right to know how public services are organised and how decisions are made, and how much they cost. Please ask to speak to the Practice Manager if you wish to make an enquiry.

Suggestions & Complaints

The Insch Medical Practice strives to provide the best possible patient care and we value your comments in order to help us to improve our service wherever possible. If you are not happy about anything please ask to speak to the Practice Manager.